East Central Reporter

Cheyenne Thompson knows all about hard work and self-discipline, but it's taken college softball to instill in her the one thing she was lacking: confidence.

“I would say, honestly, confidence has always been a big challenge of mine," Thompson told the East Central Reporter recently. "Obviously, I had a lot of success in high school, but coming here is a totally different game, a different pace. I was good in high school; however, in college everyone is as good as you. My biggest challenge has just been learning to have that confidence in myself and that I am good enough to play at this level.”

A former baseball and basketball star at Marshall High School, Thompson is now a sophomore at Butler University and an infielder on the girls' softball team.

Head coach Scott Hall said her improvement is the result of playing time.

“I think that’s what it takes at this level: comfort and experience," he said. "She’s definitely getting that.” 

Scott also credits Thompson for her ability to handle pressure.

"She is not fearful of pressure situations," he said. "She has come through in some key moments for us. I don’t mind having her at the plate when we need a big hit.”

One example is the home run Thompson hit in last year's Big East Championship game with the Bulldogs down 6-0 in the fourth inning.

“Pure excitement,” Thompson said. "It was like just knowing I was going to play a big role to get my team back into this game. Then realizing we had a chance of coming back and have an actual shot at winning the championship game. We were able to come back, and it was a great feeling.”

The team rallied and won the tournament, but Hall said it's going to be tough to defend the title with injuries plaguing some of his players.

Butler lost a triple header to St. John’s recently. 

"Losing are definitely tough moments, but I think you just have to go over the game and realize what you did right and what could have been done better," Hall said. "If you honestly believe that you laid everything out on the line, and you played as good as you possibly can, then you just have to accept that the other team was really good and maybe better than you.” 

Last season, Thompson started 51 of 52 games and tied for second on the team with three home runs.